Wheel suspension



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WHEEL SUSPENSION Filed Dec. 5, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVEN TOR. 0 OliverZ10; Znskeep o. w. INSKEEP 2, 6 ,098

WHEEL SUSPENSION Man-ch22, 1949.

2 Sheets-Sheet '2 Filed Dec. 5, 1945 INVENTOR. OZ ivez' ZDZInsJceepPatented Mar. 22, 1949 UNITED STATES PAT NT OFFICE Harris ManufacturingCompany, Calif., a corporation Stockton,

Application December 5, 1945, Serial No. 632,827

The present invention relates in general to an improved wheel suspensionfor vehicles, and particularly for trailers such as two-wheel utilitytrailers and the like.

An object of the present invention is to provide a wheel suspension forvehicles, wherein the springing of the wheels is accomplished throughthe medium of an axle which serves as a combination wheel support and atorque spring; the wheels being crank mounted on opposite ends of suchaxle.

Another object of this invention is to provide a wheel suspension, as inthe preceding paragraph, in which the torque spring axle is a onepiecealloy steel bar journaled adjacent its outer ends in connection with thevehicle frame, and clamped centrally of its ends to said frame andagainst rotation, by novel clamping means.

A further object is to provide a novel bearing sleeve arrangementoperative to prevent radial deflection of the torque spring axleintermediate its ends when the wheel suspension is in use.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensivedevice, and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purposefor which it is designed.

These objects are accomplished by means of such structure and relativearrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the followingspecification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the several views:

Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of a two-wheel trailer frameincorporating the present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal section through theaxle assembly and looking toward one wheel.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross section on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view, partly in section, of onebearing sleeve, journal, and crank arm assembly.

Figure 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary cross section showing the clampingarrangement for the axle centrally of its ends.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on thedrawings, the invention is here shown as embodied in connection with arigid, rectangular trailer frame, indicated generally at I, which frameincludes transversely spaced, parallel side beams 2 connected togetherby end beams 3.

Intermediate the end beams 3, but slightly 2 Claims. (Cl. 267-57) aheadof the center of the frame I, the latter is provided with a transverse,downwardly opening heavy-duty channel 4, welded at opposite ends to theside beams 2. A draft tongue 5 is welded to and extends forwardly to apoint ahead of the frame I, being Welded to the front end beam 3 at thepoint of intersection therewith. In addition, a longitudinal framemember 6 is welded to and extends rearwardly from thechannel 4 inalinement with the draft tongue 5, and at its rear end said frame member6 is secured to a cross bar I included in the frame.

A continuous or one-piece axle 8 extends from side to side of the frameI in the channel 4, and said axle is flattened, centrally of its ends,as at 9, and such flattened portion is secured in a clamping unit,indicated generally at ID.

The clamping unit I0 comprises a top clamping block I! fixed in thechannel 4 transversely thereof and in downwardly facing relation; saidtop clamping block II including a downwardly opening cross notch I2therein for the reception of the flattened portion 9 of the axle 8. Saidflattened portion of the axle 8 is of slightly greater thickness thanthe depth of the notch, and a bottom clampin block I3, symmetrical tothe top clamping block II, engages the flattened portion 9 from below,as clearly shown in Fig. 5. Clamping bolts I4 connect the top clampingblock II and bottom clamping block I3 on opposite sides of the flattenedportion 9 of the axle, and said bolts I4 are normally tightened, wherebyto forcefully engage said portion 9 against rotation.

Journals I5 are mounted in the outer ends of the channel 4 in alinementwith the side beams 2, and other journals I6 are mounted in said channelsubstantially centrally between the clamping unit I 0 and the journalsl5. Bearing sleeves I1 are rotatably mounted, at opposite ends, in thejournals I 5 and I6 and extend therebetween.

The outer end portions of the axle 8, which axle is formed of a round,alloy steel bar, extend with a relatively close but turnable fit throughthe bearing sleeves I1 and terminate a short distance outwardly thereof.

At their outer ends, the one-piece axle 8, as well as the sleeves H, arefixedly attached to the hub is of crank arms I 9 which are normallydisposed at a rearward and slight downward incline, as shown in Fig. 2;said crank arms including at their outer or rear ends, laterallyoutwardly projecting spindles 20 on which pneumatic-tired wheels 2| aremounted.

The crank arms l9 are fitted, adjacent their rear ends, with laterallyinwardly projecting stops 22 normally disposed in clearance relationbelow the corresponding side beam 2, but adapted to engage resilientbumpers 23 on the under side of said side beams upon predeterminedupward swinging movement of the crank arms IS.

The spring action or springing of the wheels 2| results from theresiliency or torque of the corresponding portions of the axle 8, whichaxle is clamped against rotation in the center, as described. As theportions of the axle on opposite sides of the clamping unit I arejournaled for rotation, a twisting action is imparted to thecorresponding axle portion upon relative upward movement of the adjacentwheel 21, as the vehicle traverses uneven ground. This twisting loadsthe axle portions so that they in effect become torque springs,resisting such upward movement of the wheels and tending to stabilizethe same.

While the wheel suspension is relatively simple in its construction itprovides a practical and effective means for springing the wheels ofvehicles, such as utility trailers; the construction being such that aminimum of service, repair, or replacement is necessary.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that there hasbeen produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of theinvention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferredconstruction of the device, still in practice such deviations from suchdetail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit ofthe invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, the following is claimed as new anduseful and upon which Letters Patent are desired:

1. In combination, a vehicle body, a downwardly opening channel shapedelement fixed to the bottom of the body, spaced journals disposed in thechannel element adjacent each end thereof, said journals being securedwithin the channel element for ready removal therefrom downwardlythrough the open lower side thereof, a Wheel suspension unit comprisingan axle, sleeves mounted on said axle adjacent its ends, crank armsfixed to the ends of the axle and sleeves, wheels journaled on the outerends of the crank arms, the sleeves being turnably mounted in saidjournals.

2. A combination as in claim 1 in which the axle is of torque springmaterial and is clamped in the channel intermediate its ends, theclamping element for the axle being readily removable through the openlower side of the channel.

OLIVER W. INSKEEP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,060,015 Barnes et a1 Nov. 10,1936 2,175,562 Frohlich Oct. 10, 1939 2,194,964 Willson Mar. 26, 19402,227,762 Ronning Jan. 7, 1941 2,254,261 Best Sept. 2, 1941 2,256,069Wagner Sept. 16, 1941 2,297,465 Froehlich Sept. 29, 1942

